Plain Greek yogurt carries about 10g of protein per 100g on USDA figures, so a 200g tub comes to roughly 20g. That is about double what the same weight of plain regular yogurt gives you, because Greek yogurt is strained and regular yogurt is not. The full comparison between the two sits in our guide to yogurt types.
Greek yogurt protein by serving size
These are USDA figures for plain low-fat Greek yogurt, which carries 9.95g of protein per 100g.
| Serving | Protein |
|---|---|
| 100g | about 10g |
| 150g | about 15g |
| 200g | about 20g |
| 350g | about 35g |
| 500g | about 50g |
Sweetened and flavoured tubs come in lower than this. The reason is that sugar, fruit and flavouring take up room the yogurt would otherwise fill, so the protein per spoon drops even though the tub weighs the same.
If the reason you are counting protein is weight loss, you should check out our Greek yogurt for weight loss.
Does nonfat, low-fat or whole change the protein?
It changes very little, and the table above uses the middle of the three. USDA puts plain nonfat Greek yogurt at 10.2g of protein per 100g, low-fat at 9.95g and whole milk at 9.0g. That is a spread of about 1.2g across the entire range, which is small next to the gap between Greek and regular.
So fat level is not the lever for protein.
What you want to do is choose on what else you want from the tub: how it eats, what you are cooking with it, and whether it carries added sugar.
The rest of the checks worth making are in our guide to choosing good yogurt in Nigeria.
Is yogurt protein, or mostly carbohydrate?
It depends on which yogurt you are holding, and this is where the two formats separate.
In plain low-fat Greek, protein is the largest of the three macronutrients, at 9.95g against 3.94g of carbohydrate and 1.92g of fat per 100g. In plain low-fat regular yogurt the order flips, with 7.04g of carbohydrate against 5.25g of protein. Straining accounts for the difference.
All of it is mostly water, though. Plain low-fat Greek yogurt is about 84% water by weight on USDA figures, and the macronutrients are what is left over.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a downside to Greek yogurt?
It trades calcium for protein. Straining removes the whey, which carries part of the milk’s calcium, and USDA puts plain low-fat Greek at 115mg of calcium per 100g against 183mg for plain low-fat regular. If calcium rather than protein is the reason you are eating yogurt, regular is the better pick.
Is yogurt higher in protein than milk?
Greek yogurt is, by a wide margin: about 10g per 100g against 3.15g for whole milk. Plain regular yogurt is closer to milk than to Greek.
How much protein is in 100g of non-fat Greek yogurt?
About 10.2g, on USDA figures for plain nonfat Greek yogurt. It is the highest of the three fat levels, by a margin too small to choose on.
What has more protein, two eggs or Greek yogurt?
Two large eggs give about 12.6g. On USDA figures, 200g of plain low-fat Greek yogurt gives about 19.9g, so the yogurt comes out ahead on a normal serving. Match them gram for gram and the eggs win instead.
Where Zayith fits
Every figure on this page is USDA data for yogurt as a food, not a reading off any particular brand’s pack.
Zayith Greek yogurt is strained the traditional way, so the thickness comes from the dairy itself rather than from gums or thickeners, and it is made in Lagos from milk sourced directly from Nigerian smallholder farmers. You can see the range on our Greek yogurt page.
For what protein does alongside the calcium and live cultures in a daily serving, read our full guide to the health benefits of yogurt.
